Reuters - Vigorous exercise may be an especially good way to keep kids lean, but sitting around, in and of itself, doesn't appear to have a major role in making them fat, new research shows.

HealthDay - THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- While rates of obesity are climbing across America, they are especially high in sections of Appalachia and the Southeast, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports in its first county-by-county survey.

Reuters - A woman's risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) during her lifetime is doubled if she was obese at age 18, new research shows.

AP - The first county-by-county survey of obesity reflects past studies that show the rate of obesity is highest in the Southeast and Appalachia. High rates of obesity and diabetes were reported in more than 80 percent of counties in the Appalachian region that includes Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, according to the new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

HealthDay - THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- While rates of obesity are climbing across America, they are especially high in sections of Appalachia and the Southeast, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports in its first county-by-county survey.

AP - When an ambulance brought Daniel Webb home from the hospital after he hurt his knee in March, paramedics warned the then 550-pound man he probably wouldn't be able to get up from his recliner if they put him there, his wife said.

Reuters - Low-carb and high-carb diets work equally well for maintaining weight loss, Australian researchers report.

HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Secondhand smoke harms the cardiovascular health of children, especially toddlers and obese youngsters, U.S. researchers say.

Reuters - Toddlers and obese children suffer far greater blood-vessel damage and other harm from secondhand smoke than other children, which could put them on the path to heart disease later in life, according to a new study.

HealthDay - TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Surging obesity rates, especially among children, may be putting the brakes on progress made in the past few decades against heart disease, researchers report.